Liberty with Gemini

Played with a horse for the first time in 2 weeks! Took Gem into the round pen to see just how much I could do with him. It wasn't too bad!!

We played stick to me, circle, yo-yo, cod, sideways. He did great! I was hurting from the activity, but I'm sure my sanity was better for it.

We've also developed the smile pretty well. I started teaching him the spanish walk from zone 2, also. He gets into the trick training. He's a blast.

So anxious to ride again.

Another day of catch up...

Gem first - cod, sideways, stick to me, sideways in the saddle, riding around the property, a scoot spook near the basement, a nice time. Quick ending for some filming with Tina.

Tina - filming her progress and getting pics. She did great - friendly game is much much improved. She can now manage extreme friendly. Nice figure 8's, good circles, some falling leaf, some sideways. Then, riding - practicing turns, disengaged hind, moving the fore, backup. Too wet and soggy to go more than a walk. She had another great session!

Nina - filming her progress and getting pics. Rode her for a long time. Started in the arena - skipped the round pen. Figure 8's, follow the rail, back up, she's doing fantastic. Warm up was fun - over the barrels, falling leaf, had to walk - footing is not good with melting snow. Seeking soft response to rein pressure. She likes lateral flexion and will try to use that to slow things down. She likes to stop, too. Interesting!

Gemini - pulled him out again. Practiced the smile trick and then started spanish walk. Had him bring his hind over for mounting and he had no brace about it. Pretty cool! We went over to the kids playing and took pictures. Then, sideways for quite a while - trying to get him soft sideways. Also, worked on backup and trotting little bits (again, footing is an issue). Practiced spanish walk (very beginning of that) and some more smile. Now, need another trick. He learns tricks so fast.

Z's new wound is ugly. Keeping her separate from the herd now. She's getting in trouble too much with the herd. I'm going to create a 2nd herd soon and she'll go back into a smaller herd.

Rio, Nina and Z's recovery

I took a new horse in for a short training period. He's a smaller quarter horse that hasn't been ridden in a year and not much at all in the past 4 years. His owner has developed some fear of his reactions to things and she's looking to get him evaluated and determine if she should keep him or sell him. I was expecting a "crazy" horse to show up, but he's actually a very nice boy with a great personality. And for some reason, my mares LOVE him. He bonded to Nina immediately and now he calls if she leaves his sight. That was a 36 hour courtship, folks. My oh my.

He's got some nice responses built in - he yields to pressure, he's great with the friendly game, he leads up nicely. He understands some basics, so we're moving quickly through groundwork and straight to tacking up and riding. I was told he has a lot of anxiety about the saddling process, so I tacked him up slowly with my treeless saddle. I wanted to see his responses to the pad, the saddle, the girth... He was ok with all of it. Perhaps his owner is doing something in the saddling process that triggers his anxiety. We'll figure that out.

I started teaching him to lower his head on cue. This will be a great thing to develop with him and that Kris can use when he gets worried. I think I'll make this one of his new things to leave my barn with and teach Kris how to keep it functional.

He tends to get a wide-eyed look about him and as I get to know him, I'll try to figure out how much of that is emotion versus how much is just the amount of white that shows in his eye. I saw him be very relaxed, but his head comes up high and his eyes get pretty dang wide. He also has a crazy swayed back just a 10-yr old. His middle back is sore and he is constantly in "bad banana" position. We'll start with hill therapy and transitions to get his back in better order, as well as teach him the fluid rein so he can stretch his back and move with his nose low and near the ground. I think some good riding and some back building/stretching techniques will go a long way with Rio. I'll take a "before" picture tomorrow.

I practiced the bow with Rain. It's time to bridge the cue for "foot" so that she bows on a more subtle cue. Then, I can teach her to lay down once I teach her to hold her bow from a different cue. She loves the bow and she loves treats! I'm moving to the 50/50 reward system (a treat every OTHER time) while I teach a bridge to the bow. She's the coolest horse. I just love her.

Then, I got Z out and doctored her hind leg. The swelling is nearly gone and I expect to be back on her by Saturday. I'll put her back on the track tomorrow. Thank goodness it wasn't more serious. She's definitely a cut-up looking horse right now, though.

Finally, Miss Nina needed more trimming done. She's also developed scratches on her hind pastern that has the sock. It seems that scratches affects a while pastern/fetlock much more often that a non-white one. I treated her with white lightening and I'll do so for a few days to get the scratches under control. I have lots of white pasterns in my herd - why did only Nina get scratches? Low immune system, perhaps? Maybe she had a cut there? I got another one of her hooves done, too. The second hoof this week. Like I posted earlier this week, I'm focused now on teaching her to partner up during trimming and not look at trimming as a time to play games with me. We got into a bad pattern of trimming time becoming a fight and now I'm trying to fix that. I'll do a hoof at a time until she's more willing to relax during trimming and doesn't want to take her hoof back so often. It's working - I got that one hoof done in a very relaxed way and was even able to sit on my stool while I trimmed her. Oh happy days! It's always great when you can see where you've gone wrong and get it fixed up. Hopefully, her scratches will look considerably better tomorrow, too.

Our weather has been great and the weekend looks fantastic - 60's and 70's with abundant sunshine! Time to get back on Miss Tina and start teaching her some things! Playday at my place on Sunday, too. Should be a great time.

Note to self: Need to hang a list in the barn of all the things every one of the horses under my training should be able to do. And then I need to make sure they can all do it! This would be a great reminder to me to build a solid foundation with no holes for every horse that passes through my barn. Also, need to build Z back up in the trailer.

Jen and horses!

I tell ya... I'm just having one hell of a summer doing my horse thing. Today, it was gorgeous weather and Jen and I spent the day showing off for each other and then trailriding. She showed me some things with her horse after her ISC trip for 2 weeks and I showed how Cowboy's doing on the ground as well as some Liberty with Z. Then, after some lunch, we hit the trail for a 5 mile ride.

It was a great time! Z was fantastic for me today, too. In all ways.

Tricks and bareback

Z is now bowing!! Whoo-hooo! And the Spanish walk is coming along very nicely! I started moving to the Spanish walk que from her back and she was right there with me. How cool is that? I started teaching her to rear, but she wasn't getting it at all. I abandoned that and moved on.

We did some bareback and rode the Cloverleaf pattern. I noticed how nicely muscled she looks. I asked Loma the other day if she was seeing imbalance in her muscling anywhere and Loma noticed just ahead of the wither needing to muscle up better. I expect the more advanced our riding gets, the better that will be. Her rump looks awesome and so does her back. The cut on her leg is healing very nicely, too. I think it will only leave a minimal scar.

Chrissy was in the arena on Cowboy and I threw some coaching her way, but she's really become very self-sufficient at this point. I'm very happy for her!!

I also tacked up Nina and played with her for a while tonight. It's time to get back on her and start developing the saddle work. She's doing quite well, calm and responsive. We played with the figure 8 pattern and she really got it figured out. I've also got to start putting a bit in her mouth.

I haven't spent time with Gem or Rain in nearly 2 weeks because of the all the video I'm trying to get and coaching Chrissy. That will be my next session.

More time with the new student...

Three days in a row for Chrissy and she's got a decent circle game going! We started learning the squeeze game, squeezing over a log. She's starting to really understand how to use her tools and communicate with Cowboy. So, we started with some grooming, then tacked up (I was getting Nina going). Chrissy is getting her horse caught, haltered and tacked up on her own now. I'm so happy!!

We went into the arena, she started going through the games and I played with Nina. Nina hasn't worn a saddle in a while, so it was nice to get her going again. She was pretty good about fly spray, too. Funny, she could manage it every except her rib and flank area.

Then, the rain started coming just as I was helping Chrissy learn to mount. So, we took it into the barn and practiced in there. Chrissy was able to get up on her own a few times, which was a great thing! She can keep working on her mounting skills and she'll be mounting herself on the trail easily. The uneven terrain will give her the added 4" or so that she needs. Now, I need to work on helping her get her own saddle! I want my saddle back! :-)

After that, I tied Nina for some time, to have her practice being tied, and started to trim Cowboy. I've let him go a little long and I had a lot of work to do. He wasn't that cooperative and I had Chrissy stand at his head with a toy, giving him something to do with his mouth. That helped a bunch, but I just had a lot of work to do. It took a while and I only got 3 hooves done. Cowboy has a long hoof naturally, and I feel like I just can't bring his toe back enough. His frog is also long, though - just a long, large hoof.

We also did a little trick-training with Cowboy in between hooves. We started to teach him to shake his head, but oddly I couldn't get his head to shake. He would bend his neck and tilt his head sideways, so I used that instead. Then, I taught Chrissy how to teach Cowboy to lift his leg. He got that in no time and Chrissy learned how easy it is to teach a horse tricks. Cool!

Anyway, have a hind to finish on Cowboy and then Nina's up for her trim.

Horse Play on a Cold, Wet Day!

It was cloudy and foggy and misty! It was not warm, either. However, I had extended an invitation to the Parker Parelli group to come over for some Parelli playtime. I tried to straighten up the play area, I dragged my arena and spread the manure. Only a couple showed up, which was just fine with me.

Tammy, Amy and I had a fun session! Tammy didn't have much time, which was a bummer. Amy brought red ballons! The theme was supposed to be obstacles and desensitizing. I brought out the ball and we just started getting something going. We started with the CAN YOU game.

I actually love that game because I try to be creative and sometimes I can get it done, sometimes we can't. I love that someone else throws an idea out and I can try it with my partner. Tammy's was figure 8 at Liberty. I've NEVER done figure 8 at Liberty! Z and I were just fine with that. Wow!

Amy's was put your hoof on a tire. I tried to do it from the end of the 22 to make it more challenging. We were pretty good with that too. Mine was to yo-yo over cavaletti's from zone 3. That was tough and Z and I couldn't really get it done. The back from zone 3 was not good enough with the obstacle. There! Something to go work on!

We also played find your owner and Z's stick to me was truly awesome. She didn't leave me once. We trotted, we cantered, we chased off other horses and she was always right there. Another Wow! moment for me. I brought the ball into the arena and we kicked it to eachother. Tammy's horse wasn't so sure about that ball, but Molly and Z were fine with it.

Then, Tammy had to go and Amy and I worked with the ballons. I decided to play with Cowboy. I warmed him on first, since we haven't played in at least 2 weeks. He was a little high but he eventually came back to the ground.

When we started approaching the balloons, he wanted no part of it. That was ok, we did a ton of approach and retreat and after about 20 minutes, he was letting the balloons bounce off his nose and actually playing with them!

We then went for the water on my track. Amy's horse has confidence issues with the water and I thought Cowboy was ok with it, but he could certainly use the time partnering up with me. I tried to give Amy some coaching and her horse was eventually getting her front feet into the water. I would have liked to be more effective with her, but we were constrained on the track by the temp fencing. Also, the mud got the savvy string heavy and slow so fast.

All in all, a great day of growth for me, Cowboy and Zarah! I loved it!

At the end, my boarder came back with Gemini. She's leasing Gemini and it was his first show today. It did not go well with Gemini not acting like a partner at all. He bucked madly at the entrance to the dressage arena and Krissy packed him up and brought him home. We talked and I offerred to help her through this, she just has to decide if she wants to do it with him or not. I'm fine either way. I worry about the black marbles getting dropped into his jar from his experience with Krissy, but I like the opportunity for him to try things. We'll see...

Before I wrapped it up, I played with the head shake trick with Z. By George, I think she's got it! She's darn cute about it, too! She did not learn it quickly, but I already see the amazing effect it's having on her desire to be with me. I'll think about the next trick to teach her. She knows the hug, but that's so easy - just porcupine game on her neck. Maybe the nod or counting is next. Eventually, want to teach the bow and lay down.

Back on Z after a long break

Work has just kicked my butt lately! Between travel and my job, horse time has been scarce. So frustrating.

I wanted to get back on Z w/o being too intense or intent on a certain thing. I wanted to use the break as an opportunity to start fresh and give Z a reason to think I'm better. I'm better for the time off and time to think and soak. I hope that she is too.

We started off with a little groundwork and then I mounted for some bridleless riding. We circled the round pen working on transitions with just my seat between walk and canter. She was great! Then, my boarder, who was riding Gemini at the time, was finishing up in the arena and talked about some of the stuff she's working through with Gem. He's having anxiety when he leaves home or the herd. I offered to ride up the road with her and so we did.

It was very cool to see him being used and how he handled the situation. He was calm and cool, but apparently that's not the way he is when she normally leaves the property with him. She's not a natural horsewoman, so I'm sure she's often pushing him through his thresholds. It was interesting leaving the property because it was my first day back on Z in about 2 weeks and here I was asking her to leave the property! I had reservations, but I was just going to have to make the best of it and be the best human for her that I could.

I felt her tugging for home slightly and I responded by following her lead, then asking her to follow mine. That was quite effective and getting her mind off the barn. Then, I asked for some half-passes, some side-passes, we did a few small circles, whatever I could think of to get her thinking with me and not about home.

We hit a point, just outside the gate, where she seemed much better. She had sighed and was partnering up with me. We played around on the neighbors cross-country course, then in the jumping arena. Z was super calm by now and it was neat watching Gem jump the big ones with my boarder. Z and I played with jumping a little but mainly, I was keeping her calm. At one point, there was a pole on the ground and Z literally leaped over it! Made me giggle.

We walked back nice and calm and I was super proud of my mare. Back at my place, in the front acreage, there was some sloppy, puddled areas and Gem wanted to fly through it upset and worried. My boarder didn't react in a way that I would have, but I offered to help she and Gem do better. Z was thinking that flying through the water was a great idea, too - so it was perfect for us as well. We did a lot of approach and retreat and then slowly walking through it, 1 step at a time. Then Z and I stood in it while Gem went through calmly. That was very helpful so she and Gem did the same for Z and me.

We slowly walked back to the barn and it was a great, calm ending. Z was comfortable and happy and I was super pleased.

After I took the tack off her, we tried to see how her head-shake trick is coming along. I point to her ear and she shakes her head. She's had a hard time learning this trick - it's her first one. I was ecstatic to see that she was finally getting it! She gave the slightest head shake to earn her treat and I laughed so hard! She hasn't gotten it until today! Once this trick looks good, we'll move on. Tricks could really help our relationship.

A great day!

Steppin' up my GAME!

Had maybe the best play session with Z ever. It was at least the best I can ever remember. She was playful, energetic, in tune, ears forward...

I've gone through a couple months of darkness with my Parelli vids and progression. I run every single day now on the treadmill and I'm using that time to catch up on videos and reinforce my learning. I watched the Jan 2009 Savvy Club DVD where Pat spends a lot of time trailer loading his horse Vision. It was great timing for me to watch that video! I thought it was a phenomenol teaching tool as Pat has so much savvy with his rope handling, his communication with the horse, his expectations of the horse... I'm at a point where the teachers for me are fewer because I've progressed farther than many around me. I have to spend more time looking deeper at the videos or into the discussions I have to progress my knowledge.

Anyway, Z and I played with squeezing over barrels, loading into a 2-horse straight load (extremely hard for her), moving with precision and being very in tune to my body language from the ground, quick-snappy responses and shadowing me.

I just can't remember a time where she showed more respect, impulsion, PLAY!, and the ability to overcome her confidence issues. I felt like I could actually be a great leader for that horse. I have to teach her more and continue to challenge her mind. I believe I've become boring over time to her. Time to step it UP!

I'm still trying to teach her to shake her head on cue. So funny how challenging it is for her to connect my ask with a head shake from her. Rain would have learned 8 tricks in this amount of time. How interesting!

Mending a relationship

Not sure what it was, but Zarah has been avoiding me over the past week and I've been working to mend the relationship. Today, we made great strides. It was the first day in several days that she offered to walk to me. I'm not sure exactly what I did to make her think avoiding me was the best move. My guess is I pushed her too hard by taking her on the trailer, on the trail alone, or something like that. I was maybe doing too much with her. Anyway, I'm mending the bond and I'll pay close attention to be sure I don't do it again.

I put Kendall on Rain for a bit and she rode around the yard, crossing obstacles and just having an interesting time with Rain. In the meantime, I tended to Cowboys cut on his heel bulb. Zarah was in a stall finishing her grain. After Cowboy, I went in to see if she was interested in some time with me. She looked at me, I waited and about 10 seconds later she walked to me. Ahhhh... So nice.

I gave her a few cookies and haltered her. I led her into the barn and just brushed her for a while. She was relaxed and calm. She enjoys being brushed. This was the first time I'd interacted with her in many days. Her hind feet are starting to look very bull-nosed again. They were looking really nice for a while. I'm guessing the lack of movement is a problem. When I'm using her and riding her often, she lifts her hinds more than when she's in the pasture.

Anyway, I took her into the round pen and decided to try to teach her a trick. I chose the head-shaking trick. It was cute, she didn't have a clue. I've taught her to hug and we've tried to develop the bow. Seriously, I'm always working with her on specific tasks for the program and never just teaching her a silly trick. I could tell, she didn't really know how to feel about it.

She wasn't quite getting it and after some time, I smiled at her and we left the round pen. We'll see tomorrow if she thought that was interesting or not. I'll know by how she responds to me when she sees me tomorrow.

Finding time

I finished work a little early, got kids snacked after school and then I headed out for an hour of horse time. I headed out and felt like kicking off with Cowboy. I had some ideas of things to try with him to cause him to be more supple. We started with a little ground work, but today I wanted to start upping the game. He can do more than I've been asking and he's ready.

I started by asking him to trot when I trot, canter when I canter. He seemed to have some fun doing that! I had him pretty close - maybe 10 ft away and he was engaged and ready to transition up or down as I asked. Then, we went for some trotting sideways on the rail. He got a little defensive as I asked him for more speed going sideways, but he quickly got the idea that I wasn't criticizing him - I just wanted him to offer more to the game. I actually got some cantering sideways! Then, we went for some circle game and I asked him to canter more laps. Until now, I've been happy and content with him simply cantering when I ask. Now, I took it to the next level by asking that he maintain the canter for longer. It was a different game and he was a little confused, but he caught on quickly and got the idea in no time. He's smart, smart, smart.

I was really happy with how he handled me asking for more, so it was time to ride. I hopped on (he's so great about mounting - stands still and strong every time) and we started with some simple follow the rail at the walk. I wanted to work on suppling him with bending a lot at the trot. I realized something today, though. He's a short horse! I can do that all day on Z, but Cowboy sees no purpose in moving fast or far. That's when it dawned on me - no wonder he hated cantering on line so much! He's a short horse! So, I had to pause and remember how to motivate a short horse so we could actually progress. I have some obstacles in my arena and I decided to bend around those and circle each one. After we circled 1 -3 of them, I'd stop him at one and give him a small treat. Ah HA! Now we're talking! He started actually getting into it and trying to figure out which obstacle was going to be the "treat spot". He got a little skip in his step and became a little more interested. I realized though, the best suppling is going to occur on the trail. That's where we'll go next - when I have enough time to dedicate to it.

I hopped off and asked for a little more sideways at the trot. I just think it's a good game for Cowboy and I want him thinking sideways and moving off the rail soon.

Then, I tied him off and grabbed Z. I need to ride her bareback - even if it's just 5 mins at a time. She's so sensitive and so annoyed if I ask wrong, we need a lot of practice. I took her into the round pen and asked for some walk/trot bareback. She got annoyed when I asked for forward to strongly. Whoops, sorry Z. But then we trotted for a bunch of laps in both directions easily and happily.

I finished off by spending just a few minutes asking her to bow. We haven't done that in a while and I had to remind her of the cue on her cannon bone. But she went back fairly easily and it's time to ask HER for more. She's comfortable at a certain place and I need to push her comfort zone. It's a hard trick for a RBI - trusting me is a hard thing for her.

Bowing and L3 Liberty

I had a short bit of time available to get some things going with my horses. I also was able to snag Steve for some video footage. I got some video of Rain doing tricks:

Rain fetches her doll: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd6pxo1qYgE
Rain Bows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ5DBooNE60

Z and I got some Liberty taped (again). Ugh - each time has a blemish I'd like to fix. This is a hard, hard thing to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQpE0i0Gel8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BgjiPp-TOU

Sometimes I'm having fun, sometimes I'm just pushing my horse and I into a brick wall. I'm learning to take it easier on myself and my horse... slowly.

Bowing and Riding Z

I've been practicing the bow with Rain for a few years now. I started about 3 yrs ago and barely new what I was doing. She understands the concept, but she would never stay in the bow for long. Recently, I started working on it with her again and now she bows beautifully. I'm going to get some video and put it on youtube. It's pretty cool.

I recently started teaching Z to bow, as well. I'm using a very different technique with Z. We'll see how that goes. A horse has to have a lot of trust and confidence to get in such a precarious position as the bow. It's much easier for Rain than Z, as Z is not near as trusting. I also asked Z to circle me and practice transitions up and down. Her down transition is not as good and she tends to break back into a trot. This is important for us as we go back and retape L3 Liberty.

Kendall and I rode our horses bareback in the round pen after bowing. I asked Z to follow the rail at the trot. We also had the Equiball with us, so we had our horses kicking the ball around. A fun little session.

Then, I tacked up Z and we went for a ride. We practiced canter/walk transitions in a figure 8, snakey bends, sideways over a log (very softly) and canter transitions in a straight line. She gave me the nicest canter depart and down transition so I hopped off and let her eat grass. She's giving me more and more great stuff. My leadership is better and I'm expecting more. She also offered me a very vertical trot, nearly a piaffe, and a rode that a bit asking her to maintain. So cool.

Riding into the sunset

Tonight, I managed to get both Z and Rain tacked up and ridden. The shorter days are making it harder and harder. I started with Z and took her into the arena. We worked on more of our 1 million transitions, corner game, some sideways barrel to barrel, some figure 8. It was quick and I hated to feel like I didn't have much time, but that was the way it was.

Then, I took Rain in the arena. It was the first time in eons since I'd asked Rain to do something in an arena with me on her back. I wanted her to follow the rail and maintain gait. Both needed practice. I was riding her in an english saddle and I'd set out thinking to work on longitudinal flexion. She wasn't ready for that, so we went back to more basics. It felt good to ride her and I forgot how fast she can gait down an arena! It made me giggle!

She wanted to do the right thing and she felt a little energetic. I didn't want her to feel criticized but I realized I must of made her feel that way a lot when I was using her in L2. Sorry, Rain. I'm better now.

I also worked with both mares on bowing. Rain was able to bow quite nicely, but she's not holding it for long. We'll keep building her length of time in that position. Proud of her. Z is nearly down in the bow. Cool! I'll try to capture video and put it on my youtube page.

The sun was gone and I had to get chores done and spend time with kids. I could have done more... hours more. That's why I need 3 horses.

Z and 2 eyes

I've been noticing more that Z doesn't look at me with 2 eyes sometimes when I'm asking for yo-yo, backing or other ground tasks. Yesterday, after D and I got back from Hidden Mesa, I spent a little time with Z in the round pen. We worked on Liberty cantering and transitions at Liberty. We've got that down fairly well. We practiced coming in with confidence and giving me 2 eyes. I continued to draw backward until she gave me 2 eyes and happy ears. We did that a few times then switched to developing the bow some more. I pushed too far one of the times, but for the most part she's cooperative and getting lower each time.

Today, I played with her a little in the barn aisle after spending the day at the Horse Expo. Some conversation with Teri Sprague about her RBI behavior, I decided to try a few things before calling it a day. We just did some yo-yo game and each time she came to me with 2 eyes, she got a treat. That worked wonders. Bizarre - am I reading RBI behavior when it's really LBI? Does she switch so often that I have to get better at watching for it?

Canter, Canter, CANTER!

After being in Dallas all week, I couldn't wait to get a ride in and work on some things with my horses. The buyers for Gemini came to see him and ride him one more time before making the official offer. Then, when they left, I took Z to the round pen to work on cantering at Liberty. We did that a bit and then I tacked her up for some cantering in the arena. She had a better attitude than last time in the arena. We cantered large circles and also played Josh Lyon's game of bending. Very effective.

I finished off by giving each Delaney and Kendall a little riding lesson on her. Delaney wanted to - he's very upset about Gemini getting sold. He actually cried. :-( To finish our session, we worked on the bow some more, our 4th session with that trick. She's getting lower... It was good, but rushed - as usual. Hate that.

And some good news - Starlet seems fine now. Ahhh, relief.

After the snow...

Yesterday, we had a blizzard and we couldn't go anywhere really. The wind was howling, snow was blowing, a very wintry day. All the horses were stalled and feeling couped up. I let them out to eat in the evening and this morning they were all feeling pretty cold. Z was shivering. I didn't know it was going to get so cold last night. This morning, Starlet couldn't reach down to eat her grain in the bucket. I put her in a stall alone for the day until I can evaluate what's going on. She did eat all her hay from the bottom of the bucket, so not sure what is going on with her.

I worked as fast as I could, then about 2:30pm went out to get Gemini moving a bit. Someone wants to check him out tomorrow, so I wanted to see how he was feeling. I rode him a bit and he's doing just fine. The more time I spend with him, the more I like him. He's a cool horse. He's such a smooth mover and he's smart and brave. Hmmm...

I also spent some time playing squeeze game and circle game with Z over a jump. We worked on backing up straight at Liberty and also some time with the bow. She's going much lower, but she's not trusting me today. Her knee nearly touched the ground and it made her a bit worried. I'll go slower and do less next time. I didn't get to ride her, not enough time. I'm sorry, too - really wanted to ride her.

Cloverleaf!

Today Z started to walk away in the pasture after eating and I went to catch her. She does really fine with I go to catch her. She sees me coming behind her, stops and walks towards me. This is how it always is. I just don't like that she walks to the far pasture and I'll just have to keep giving her reasons to wonder WHAT I'm going to do versus assuming she should disappear. She is such an RBI and she would prefer to meld into the woodwork than be out and about. I respect that and I continue to try to harmonize with that. I'm an extrovert, so it's a challenge.

I put her in the round pen for a few hours while I ran errands. When I got back, we took a break together, then worked on cantering at Liberty. Much better!! Major improvement!! We'll keep working on that. She's got to go at least 4 canter laps at Liberty for us to get our tasks done. She can go a couple now. She's more collected and thoughtful in her liberty canter than ever before. She's carrying herself well and using herself effeciently. I'm so pleased.

We did a little circle game over obstacles on the 22 before the round pen. That was all fine. We still need to get the straight backup at Liberty more consistent.

Then, I mounted and we headed to the arena. She was all over the place. We needed a plan. I set up a cloverleaf course for us about 1/3 the size of my arena (9 paces from center to edge). At first, she was scattered but she quickly came back to me and managed the pattern well at the trot. We did some trotting around the entire course (60 ft circle, maybe?). Then we went back to the pattern in the other direction. We did a lot of resting in the middle on my lawn chair cushion, where I asked her to put her hoof on it. After about 40 mins of working the pattern in both directions, we started working on cantering. She was scattered again and I stayed with her until she got it together with me. She even did a rear end defiant buck a few times. Made me giggle a little.

I'm working on brideless riding so I generally only use the reins if I need to. I'm noticing that there are leg cues that really torque her off. I tried to listen to her and use my legs in a way that I was communicating without making her annoyed. We started to really find a balance. Of course, she became most annoyed at the side facing the gate so I'm positive all the behavior was LB. Nothing was violent or uncontrollable. It was all very calculated and deliberate. We will get better quickly, I'm sure. The weather will allow us to do more canter work and precision work which is just what we both need. I am comfortable now to gallop on her for 30 seconds - one of my tasks. She's fassssssst.

I sticked her again on flat concrete and she's definitely only 15.1hh. I thought she was taller for some reason. Honestly, I wish she was a little taller. It's fine for the L3 stuff - makes it all a little easier... bareback mounting, especially. I wonder if I'll want to continue with her after L3 or switch to one of my others.

Back to our session... we ended with about 10 minutes of training her to bow. She's going down much farther and that was only our 3rd session. I think she understands what I'm after and she just needs the time to feel confident to do it. She doesn't fight it really and I'm trying so hard not to push her to that point. The picture of the shrinking violet horse for the RBI is her most of the time. She swings between RBI and LBI.

It was a great session and I'm sorry it's snowing today. I'd love to try some more things with her and see where we are after she's had a chance to think about it.

Oh, and for fun and to get my cardio in, I took a run early in the day with Delaney on Gemini and Kendall on Rain. We only went about 30 mins (short of what I was supposed to do). We were out of time, though. Both horses did great and the kids giggled most of the time. The horses do a slow jog to stay with me and the kids get a smooth ride. Need to do that more often.

The Barn Aisle, Feb 25th

Did a little bit with Rain and Zarah in the barn aisle last night. Didn't spend any horse time all day and decided to take a few mins and work on something. Rain and I worked on a lighter and lighter response to me on the stool and her swinging over for me to mount. We're getting better - no tail swishing and a very easy and close swing to me. Zarah and I worked on the bow in the stall with hay all over the ground (it was soft enough). She didn't like being in that stall and it was a little hard to get her to relax. She has the leg cue completely down and now we're working on trust as she backs on 3 legs. Very cool.

Sunday, Feb 17 - Damn Snow!

Well, I stared outside a lot of the day watching the wind blow and the snow dance and feeling a little pissed at mother nature. I had big horse plans for the day thinking the weather wasn't going to be quite so bad. About 4pm, I decided to just get dressed up and go play with horses anyway. It's not so bad once you get out there, really. The snow pelting your face only bothers you for so long. After a while, your face goes numb.

So, I grabbed Gemini. He's always happy to play with me. We worked on moving the fore, then the hind, then sending on the circle. He's a dominant horse, a pretty straight-forward LBE, and he immediately gets exhuberant. The ground is not good for energetic horses and he figures that out quickly. So he's carefully showing his energetic side (pretty funny) and at the same time telling me I'm not the boss. He tickles me. So we have a little discussion, I keep my cool and he quickly comes around and decides cooperating is the easier way to go. He's the coolest horse. We didn't stay out in my front pasture long - maybe 25 mins. Towards the end, I started working on teaching him to bow by developing the cannon bone tapping cue. Sixty seconds later, he's got it. Smart boy. Then, I drove him back to the barn from zone 3.

In the barn, I stood on the step-ladder and taught him to swing his body to me for mounting. He's never done this before and he was a little befuddled at first. Then, in perfect Gemini form, he gets it and swings carefully up to me for mounting. We practiced this a few times and I hopped on bareback a few times in the barn aisle. We worked on lateral flexion and backing. The barn aisle can be good for doing things slowly and precisely since the floor is concrete and the horse doesn't want to lose his footing.

He was dying to eat hay and I could tell. It was well past "hay" time for him and I decided we'd done enough.

I then grabbed Rain and brought her into the aisle. I started teaching her to swing her body to me for mounting from a step-stool about a month ago. We hadn't done it since that one session. I wanted to see if it had stuck and how she'd feel about it. I love that horse. She was a little miffed at first, but I persisted in tapping her rump, pushing her hind end towards me and after a little tail-swishing, she moved closer and got the release she was after. Ahhhhh... Then, it was like butter. She was much happier if I didn't actually touch her rump, but just rythmically push the air against her rump. She could swing over without showing her annoyance with a tail swish. She is really good at telling me I'm talking to loudly and I'm getting better at listening.

That's it - Kendall shows up and I've been in horsey land for about 90 minutes. I could live in the barn, really.